Say Anything You Want About Max’s Pop Punk Past, But He Won’t Stop

A Preview For the Max Bemis Show at Neumos in Seattle Washington, on January 18th

I have to start out by saying that Max Bemis is one of my all time favorite writers and artists of all time. Known mostly for being the front man for the pop-punk band Say Anything, Max has been in the music business for at least 14 years now starting the band Say Anything in 2000. Being thrown into super-pop-punk-stardom from the beginning and being signed to labels such as Doghouse Records and J Records, Say Anything has always had a dark pop cloud hanging over their head. Dealing with extreme Bipolar Disorder Max Bemis has a way with words that could only be written by someone on the edge of insanity. His lyrics are romantic yet realist, satirical yet literal, and beautiful yet ugly. Having been pop punk royalty with bands such as All Time Low it is easy to throw Say Anything and Max Bemis into the cheesy group of bands that many of us would like to forget that we loved. Though I agree that Say Anything has a way to create a sound that is catchy, flirty and angst inducing, Max Bemis writes in a much deeper level, taking on much stronger topics such as religion, genocide, and mental illness. Max and Say anything have recently dropped off of J records and along with that dropped the dark cloud of pop. In 2012 they released Anarchy, My Dear from Max Bemis’ imprint label on Equal Vision Records. This album was a clear change in direction for Say Anything showing a much more raw and punk side to the band. Though, not as popular as their other albums Anarchy, My Dear is a huge step away from the pop influence and another huge step towards the kind of band they’d actually like to be.

On January 18th Max Bemis will be playing a show at Neumos in Seattle Washington. Playing along side him will be his wife Sherri (Singer of the Band Eisley) in their collaboration project Perma, a charmingly witty dysfunctional couple’s band. Also playing the concert are Matt Pryor off of Max’s imprint label and Allison Weiss a DIY pop artist that is catchy, punky, witty, and wonderfully powerful. The show is for all ages, and covers so many sub genres of punk and pop I imagine anyone who likes music would have a blast at this concert.